Brian is a filmmaker and film critic based in Belfast with over 25 years of experience in the film and television industry. His collaborations with the Digital Film Archive include two popular archive series - Super 8 Stories (BBC Northern Ireland) and Sixties NI (UTV). 

A retired milkman sits behind the wheel of his beloved milk float, at the time on public display at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. It is a lingering image of sweet sadness captured on Super 8 film. This is one of the many memorable moments from Super 8 Stories, the popular BBC Northern Ireland series produced by DoubleBand Films that ran for three series between 2003 and 2006 plus a Christmas special.

From the beginning, Super 8 Stories was designed to discover a people’s archive of life in Northern Ireland from the 1950s to the 1970s. At a time when television was mainly in black and white, this new home movie archive would be in glorious colour. We set out to gather all the forgotten dreams of aspiring filmmakers, not only the big lifetime events but also the small intimate scenes.

What we uncovered was an extraordinary treasure trove with more than 100 hours of home movies from every town and village across Northern Ireland, and even underwater footage near Rathlin Island. By collating this, we were not only assembling a historical archive but also creating a new one, by interviewing the filmmakers, families and friends involved. 

If I had to choose just one Super 8 Story to encapsulate the nostalgic magic of the series, it would have to be The Last Milk Round. After nearly sixty years of service, James McMeekan is captured on his final day as a milkman in Newtownards, hanging up his cap and coat for the last time. Lovingly filmed by his sons George and James, it is an emotional goodbye to his customers: the end of an era.

Super 8 Stories was an incredible project to work on, and as director I worked with an amazing team which included producer Jenny Morris and archivist Evan Marshall. We were delighted that shortly after transmission Super 8 Stories became an essential part of the Digital Film Archive, leaving more than 30 hours of golden memories and precious interviews preserved for future generations to enjoy.